I cried out her name as a sharp sting bit into my neck. My mind swarmed, red noise filled my ears, darkness rushed and lunged all around me. A whimper spilled from my mouth. The world spun on a clock face. I felt myself tumbling as the crippling darkness invaded my mind.
Chapter 84
Trapped In The Dark
I was hovering at a point of limbo—not awake, not fully asleep. My mind was stuck in a barren place, devoid of both life and cognitive thought, but I had an awareness that something was wrong. Terribly wrong.
“Wake up.”
I stirred to life, groggy and confused. I was ice-cold and my whole body was shaking. My eyelids remained glued together. I lay there for a long moment listening.
The quiet was so thick it was unnatural.
The only sounds were a strange rushing noise in my head and the beat of my heart.
“Get up.”
I pried my eyes open.
Darkness—coffin-deep darkness.
Panic overwhelmed me. I cried out but my throat was wrung like wet rags, and nothing could get through it. I tried to move, but my arms felt like they were made of lead.
Blood pulsed through my head. My heart boomed in my chest.
I couldn’t draw a breath.
Oh, God.It hit me like a sledgehammer to the stomach. I was under water, drowning.
A deep, dark lake, bulged against me, pressing against my body, choking my nose, my throat, my lungs.
I whimpered into the back of my throat.
“Breathe, Amy. Breathe,”Mom whispered.
I felt my face crumble.“I can’t, Mom, I can’t. I’m drowning,” I whined.Whined.
The notion computed as I realized I’d spoken the words out loud.
I wasn’t drowning. I couldn’t speak out loud if I were underwater. I was having a panic attack.
Breathe, breathe, breathe.
I dragged a rasping breath in through my teeth.
Cold, musty air slid down into my lungs. Awareness slithered back in. I was laid out flat on my back on a cold, hard slab of something. The darkness pulsed and seemed to collapse in as if it held physical weight; crushing against my chest and lungs.
Move.
I tried to rise but the slab seemed to have my leaden body in invisible shackles. I gritted my teeth and breathing deeply, I twisted. The cement let go and I rolled onto my stomach. I dragged my arms forward. I knew my hands were in front of my face, but I couldn’t see them. I couldn’t see anything.
My mind conjured up an image of Shadow Man lurking in the dark. I imagined him sharpening his claws. He’d reach out and drag me screaming into nothingness. He’d split my stomach open like a lamb being gutted.
A scream launched up my throat. I jerked a hand over my mouth and fought to keep it down.
Shadow Man was something I’d made up, he wasn’t real, I reminded myself.
“Get up, you have to get up.”
